Good Example

So this one guy is a good guy & he

picks some other guy who is also good

to carry on after he has gone & suddenly

there is a long line of virtuous leaders

which is almost not exactly how

the blackberries behind my fence grow

each spring, meaning there is no plan,

meaning those juicy little bits

of surprise all throughout the drainage ditch.

Each day I trudge from one place to another

& I wonder if the places I trudge from

are the problem, which would indicate

a failing of the exterior world

to live up to expectations, or if my trudge

is the problem, the sheer plod of it

making the whole world burn dull grey.

O my Chevrolet!  I would open

all four doors at once if I felt we could fit

enough love inside.  Inside my head

I’m singing that song again, the one

I learned living alone with my friends

from 1998-2002.  That weepy-eyed chorus.

Here I am avoiding the real.  Here I am

filling up myself with myself,

struggling to go deep enough to make

the page less white, to make the air

around me grip me & hold me up as a model,

as something to aspire to.

In Brightest Day

Today is the brightest day today

could possibly be!  As examples

I cite the leaves of the trees

which seem nothing but complex

patterns of light, or the way I have to

squint at everything in order to look

at it on this bright day today

has turned into.  Bright birds line up

on the bright phone wires by the bright

bright clouds.  All of this is, frankly,

too much.  When the bright red fire truck

zips (brightly) by I want to yell, “Here

is your emergency!”  The red stop sign

sways gently in the bright wind.  Today

is still today.  Time, though brighter,

passes normally.  The only difference

is that I can see exactly what I’m doing.